Search This Blog

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Voting Rights

If you don't regularly visit conservative media sites, no doubt you are unaware that a) states are required to send out military ballots by a certain date according to federal law but b) there is very little the federal government can do about enforcement. Very little. If they do anything at all. Historically, blue states deprive military personnel their right to vote by not sending them their ballots in time for them to be returned by the cutoff day. Cheap! Low blow! If anyone should be guaranteed a right to vote in this country, it should be those who defend her and protect her.

This year, true to form, at least four states failed to meet the deadline: Vermont, Michigan, Mississippi and Wisconsin. I was surprised to see Illinois missing from this list because they sure belonged on it back in 2008, along with New York. This year, the Romney campaign has filed a lawsuit in behalf of military voters in Wisconsin, asking they be granted an extension.

The only Congressmen who seem to care that military people are being deprived their Constitutional right to vote are the Republicans. Yes, the military usually votes Republican. But this issue is deeper than that. Do Congressional Democrats care so little about the nearly-sacred right to vote in this country? Meanwhile, manyDemocrats have been caught voting twice - a felony. They've joked about "finding" votes for themselves after the election - as they sure have experience doing in past elections in Minnesota, for example. Or Wisconsin, when they bussed in a bunch of people from Michigan to vote for the Recall election - yielding 119% voter turnout in Madison. There are so many other examples. The Obama campaign sued to restrict military voting and has sought its restriction in Ohio. No, Democrats don't care about the Constitution. Only themselves and their power.

Well, their time is up. The liberal media has become so blatantly biased that people are turning away and seeking more information elsewhere. This couldn't be better for America. If more people distrust the liberal machine that is the DNC and news media corporations, the more likely they'll understand that Republicans are right when they say we can't afford to continue spending the way we have been. And that Romney/Ryan aren't who the media say they are. And that Obama isn't who the media says he is either - they fail to report his failures.

As a reminder, if you can't watch the debate tonight, do yourself the favor of watching it before listening to any spinning of the debate. Make your own opinion, free from any one else. Transcripts are no longer reliable - substantive statements were omitted from both Romney and Ryan in their respective debates. Don't trust the media for anything other than reliable bias and misrepresentation of every single topic they cover. Not for fair and balanced coverage. For that, you must read both sides. Also be prepared for another two on one debate like we "enjoyed" last week.

4 comments:

I'm very disappointed that someone who believes in being well informed would write the following: "Or Wisconsin, when they bussed in a bunch of people from Michigan to vote for the Recall election - yielding 119% voter turnout in Madison."

1. There is no proof that anyone was bussed from Michigan to Wisconsin to vote illegally. A single phone call was made to the Chris Plante Show alleging it was happening, but the caller did not stay on the line and the story could not be verified. Even Chris Plante says, "This is all very curious."

2. Even if it were true, these "buses of illegal voters" are linked to voter turnout in Madison in your sentence, but the caller did not "know" the Wisconsin location. He said he didn't think they were "going that far in," which would imply they were headed to Racine or Kenosha (the closest cities to Michigan via Interstate).

3. Given same day registration in Wisconsin, a 119% turnout of registered voters is possible without fraud. Highly unlikely and definitely worth investigating, but possible. Which means throwing around the contextless number 119% as if it clearly implies fraud in and of itself is wrong.

4. In the end, there was no 119%. That number was a projection from the Madison City Clerk based on high early turnout. The actual result was 96%. Still very high and worth investigating, but your sentence incorrectly reads "yielding 119% voter turnout."

My point is not that voter fraud did or did not occur in Wisconsin. I wasn't there. However, there are no facts at this point that support your assertion of fraud in Wisconsin. I strongly believe that election integrity is an important nonpartisan issue, which I why I don't believe passing rumor as fact benefits anyone.

I didn't see the revision down to 96% from 119%, but I do have proof that people were bussed in from Michigan. If you seach for the Walker recall election on this blog or Breitbart you'll find it. It was reported from people on the ground, even quoting those bussed.

I did a search on your blog for the "Walker recall election" and on Breitbart.com for "walker recall election bus," but I didn't find any proof that people were bussed into Wisconsin to engage in voter fraud.

I did see this on Breitbart.com:

"Just as hundreds of us in Wisconsin joined our friends in Ohio during the final days of the successful fight against SB 5, our brothers and sisters from Ohio have come to make phone calls and knock doors in support of Tom Barrett's campaign to reunite and move Wisconsin forward," said Kelly Steele, spokesman for We Are Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Jobs Now and Voces de la Frontera deployed vans to drive voters to and from the polls, as well. One of these vans had the words “Cash Money” painted on the window, giving rise to the question of whether voters had been paid or offered any sort of compensation for going to the polls.

For a democracy to be successful and for government to reflect and uphold the will of the people, it is imperative that citizens take their voting responsibility seriously enough to be well informed. The first step is understanding that there is no such thing as fair and balanced coverage anymore, including the polls and fact-checkers. Including both sides in your sources of information is essential to forming an educated opinion. Both sides leave things out. For example, the leftist news media leaves out the good qualities in Republicans, the Tea Party, conservative causes, etc.

Comments are welcome but civility is required, hence the blog owner approval requirement. We need to have a discussion across partisan divides, not a shouting match. No name-calling will be approved for publishing in the comments.